Oct. 23, 2010
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - While the NFL has spent much of the past week fining players for helmet-to-helmet hits and threatening suspensions for unnecessary contact, UCF coach George O'Leary said leaders of Conference USA need to continue to tighten the enforcement of rules for spearing and leading with the helmet.
In O'Leary's opinion, the enforcement of the rules shouldn't fall so much on the in-game referees as it should the officials who review the game tapes afterward. O'Leary said there needs to be a stronger enforcement of the rules to protect players, especially in the wake of the neck injury for Rutgers lineman Eric LeGrand.
``I agree that the punishment should be more for those who use the head as a spear. The only thing is to make sure it is what it is. I don't like to add more judgment calls for the officials. They should go back to the film review and make the call,'' O'Leary said. ``(Not using the head) is something that the kids have to learn. It's very difficult to keep the head out of the game if you really isolate every block and every tackle and using helmets. You're doing what you have to do as a spear with the head as the initial contact. It's a contact sport and it's very difficult.''
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RUNNING BACK REVIEW: O'Leary said he will make a decision about the fate of standout running back Brynn Harvey on Sunday. Harvey, UCF's leading rusher each of the past two seasons, has spent the past five months trying to recover from a knee injury suffered during spring drills.
Harvey, a junior from Largo, has made significant progress and has been running non-contact drills on the practice field the past two weeks. But O'Leary is still concerned about how Harvey's psyche and knee will react to contact.
With the emergence of tailbacks Ronnie Weaver and Latavius Murray, the likelihood is that Weaver will utilize a redshirt season that will give in two remaining years of eligibility. Harvey was a preseason All-Conference USA pick after running for 1,109 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2009.
``His five months is up. He is in individual drills now. As I mentioned to (running backs coach) George Godsey in (Monday's) meeting, we have to make a decision on him pretty quick. We've got to go or we've got to redshirt him because you are going into your seventh game,'' O'Leary said. ``He is out there doing individual and getting contact, but it is a little different when you have 11 guys out there and they are coming at all different angles. Before next week we have to make a decision to get him a redshirt year or see if we can get him into the plan. My concern is that if we get him into the plan is he going to lash and go out there and not be 100 percent, and all of a sudden lose that year, too.''
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ETC: Junior quarterback Rob Calabrese, who suffered a major knee injury in last week's win in Marshall, spent Saturday's game along the sidelines signaling in plays to starting quarterback Jeff Godfrey. Calabrese is expected to have surgery within the next two weeks and hopes to return to the field by Spring Practice in March. ... When UCF drove 77 yards in 17 plays in the first and second quarters on Saturday it was the longest drive for the Knights since an 18-play March at Southern Miss last September. Godfrey completed seven of nine passes for 70 yards on the drive and the Knights picked up four first downs on the drive. ... UCF's nationally ranked run defense held Rice to minus-four yards in the first quarter. The Owls were stopped for losses on three plays -two of them on runs - in the first quarter. ... UCF's biggest game of the season comes next Saturday at Bright House Networks Stadium against East Carolina. The Knights enter the battle for first place atop the East Division of C-USA having won nine consecutive league games.
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John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.